This invention relates in general to the field of communications and in particular to a switching system and method for communicating information at a customer premises.
Historically, voice, video, data, and other services have been provided separately, using multiple facilities and separate wiring. As a result, communities requiring such services have usually faced relatively large initial expenses for implementing a system, subsequently increasing system capacity, and maintaining the system on an ongoing basis. Attempts to integrate such services to offset these inadequacies have typically forced users in these communities to accept a number of undesirable limitations, for example, limitations as to the generality of data services available.
Communications needs continue to expand on a global scale. With the growing demand for communications, and despite the limitations associated with prior systems, there is a concurrent expansion in the demand for audio, video, data, and other services provided to user communities. This is particularly true considering the recent rise in importance of packet-based audio, video, data, and other communications that rely on Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Internet Protocol (IP), Frame Relay (FR), and other packet-based protocols. For example, users in a community such as an apartment complex or other shared tenant environment may have telephones, personal computers, facsimile machines, and other devices allowing them to interface to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), the Internet, and other suitable networks. Previous systems do not provide voice, video, data, and other services in an integrated manner using a system having relatively low implementation, scaling, and ongoing maintenance costs. As a result of these and other inadequacies, previous systems are often inadequate to address the current and future needs of many user communities.
According to the present invention, disadvantages and problems associated with previous switching systems and methods are substantially reduced or eliminated.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a switching system at a customer premises communicates information associated with one or more subscribers. The switching system includes a switch that receives voice signals on a first virtual circuit (VC) and switches the voice signals out of the switching system on the first VC. The switch also communicates received data signals for routing. A router of the switching system receives the data signals from the switch on a second VC, determines a third VC for the data signals, and routes the data signals to the switch on the third VC for communication out of the switching system on the third VC.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a switching system at a customer premises communicates information associated with one or more subscribers. The switching system includes a local area network (LAN) port for communicating data signals with a server complex using a LAN to provide one or more data services accessible to some or all subscribers, a logical port for communicating data signals and packetized voice signals with a central office (CO), and multiple subscriber line ports for communicating digital subscriber line (xDSL) signals with subscribers. The switching system is able to communicate data signals and plain old telephone service (POTS) voice signals between subscribers using the subscriber line ports. The switching system also communicates data signals and POTS voice signals between subscribers and the CO using the subscriber line ports and the logical port, the switching system converting between the POTS voice signals of the subscriber lines and the packetized voice signals of the logical port. The switching system also communicates data signals between subscribers and the server complex using the LAN port.
The present invention provides a number of important technical advantages over previous systems and methods. Unlike previous systems, the switching system of the present invention can be provisioned to include a single logical data link from the switching system to the CO site. This link bidirectionally carries data, packetized voice, packetized video, and any other appropriate packetized information streams. The switching system may provide POTS on multiple subscriber line ports, with built-in facilities to bidirectionally convert between the analog POTS and packetized digital service to and from the CO. It may also provide suitable xDSL service over the POTS that is provided on each subscriber line, with connectivity to an Internet service provider (ISP) for each of the subscriber lines. It may provide a built-in LAN port (based on Ethernet or otherwise) and an associated switching (or routing) bridge to support the creation of a LAN inclusive of the subscriber line data channels and the LAN port. It may provide LAN service even for subscriber data connections using the Point to Point (PPP) protocol. The ability to provide these and other service options to multiple users within a community is an important technical advantage over prior systems.
Moreover, the switching system of the present invention is xe2x80x9cstackablexe2x80x9d using interconnecting links that permit multiple smaller devices to operate as if they were a single larger device. The interconnecting xe2x80x9cstack linksxe2x80x9d between devices can be modular and multiprotocol. These features contribute to the enhanced scalability of the system and may allow for economical incremental expansion beginning with a low cost of entry version with a low port count. The switching system is more manageable than prior systems, permitting both local and remote configuration and monitoring. It may support single or multiple physical links to one or more COs, providing data link fault tolerant operation, higher bandwidth, and other important technical advantages. It may also provide for distributed Inverse Multiplex ATM (IMA) operation using these CO links. The present invention allows various combinations of these and other services to be provided at lower total cost than with multiple overlapping systems to provide such services piecemeal.
Systems and methods incorporating one or more of these or other technical advantages are well suited for user communities desiring integrated voice, data, video, and other communications services. Other technical advantages are readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.